Yeah, the shared mold is a bit of a double-edged sword in this case -- on the one hand it's a bit "m'eh, already got this", even with the new parts. On the other hand, Triggerhappy is fantastic so it's hard to really be all that bothered.

And who am I kidding? Misfire was my second Transformer as a kid and this is a super-accurate new rendition of him. I'm going to be all over it when it comes out.

So toys for The Last Knight have started popping up at Toys'R'Us stores around Canada...priced $10 more than their Titans Returns counterparts of the same size class. So Deluxes are $30, Voyagers are $40, etc... Apparently it's being branded as "premier edition adult collectors' figures" in spite of being, you know, just regular movie toys. And it sounds like the same price hike happened in the UK too, so it's not just a Canada thing or TRU price gouging.

There's no way this crap actually sells at that price point, is there? If this price increase carries over to the Generations stuff I'm going to be shopping exclusively at 50% off sales. Thankfully there'll be lots of those because it'll be the only way they'll get the merchandise to move!

A local chain here in RI, USA has Last Knight Premier Optimus & Grimlock Voyagers for US$30 each, US$5 more than TR Voyagers go for. However, TR Voyagers have pretty chintzy looking stickers while the LK figures had nicer paint than usual. It doesn't justify a 20% price bump, though.

I don't know why Hasbro bothered to pull all this chicanery with the clones. Since Takara's almost certainly going to release them properly, I can't see it having driven that much of a "must buy, this is the only way to get these characters!!!!" frenzy. Not the way that the more obscure stuff like Quickswitch or Nautica or Metalhawk would have, anyway. Why not just bundle each set of brothers together like in the old days and sell them that way?

That works nicely for Skullgrin! Overlord we've seen before and I'm not super excited about any of the other new releases. Rodimus looks really clunky, Starscream seems all kinds of terrible, Jazz doesn't impress and I'm not sure how to feel about Darkwing and Dreadwind. They're fine but I already own that mold twice over. They seem to still have their combiner ports, which leaves me scratching my head. I wonder if Starscream is so awkward-looking because he's a combiner torso?

I'm looking forward to Beachcomber, since you'll actually be able to see the Titan Master riding him. Brawn and Roadburn are great, but you can't see their drivers.

Jazz's vehicle mode looks like TR HotRod with the small cockpit. The headsculpt is iffy, and I don't like the gap in the chest. But, I am short 1 limb for Optimus Maximus, so I'll probably get him.

Darkwing and Dreadwind look pretty good individually. I saw one pic of their combined jet mode and wasn't impressed. There were gaps where the wings didn't meet properly. But, it may have been mistransformed.

I'm assuming Starscream has some sort of gimmick to explain his badness. The wings have hinges halfway between the fuselage and tip that aren't needed for either bot or jet mode. They aren't even trying to hide the arms in jet mode. It was bad enough when limbs were just stuck under the wings, and only hidden when viewed directly from above. Those shoulders aren't hidden at all. At least make them look like intakes, or weapons. I'm OK with the underside of a jet bot clearly being a bunch of robot parts. I'd just like those parts to be arranged in something approximating an actual fuselage.

Rodimus looks like a great idea (Deluxe Hotrod combines with trailer to become Leader Rodimus) executed poorly. Hoefully, they'll try again when they don't have to force the Power of the Primes gimmick on top of the combining.

And, am I understaning this right: the "Power of the Primes" is that the Titan Master-types figure each transform in a Matrix that can be stored in a Leader's chest? That doesn't really sound like fun. Plus, like Brawn and Roadburn, you won't be able to tell if there's a little guy in there. The fun of Headmasters is making different looking bots by swapping heads around. Why bother swapping Primes around?

Well..... Roddy looks kind of interesting, although I'd want a closer look first. Is there a deluxe sized Hot Rod included, or do you already have to have one? Given the way the last two lines have gone, I'd guess Jazz and Starscream are supposed to emulate their Classic Pretender versions, although I'm more interested in what Grimmy will look like. Also Bludgeon. Where is Bludgeon, Hasbro? Instead of cranking out the 452nd version of Movie Prime(yes, it does look very nice), give the people what they really want: a skeleton themed, death dealing samurai shell of death merged with a tank! Your failure with TR Nightbeat is the only one we'll allow.

I'm not sure how to feel about Darkwing and Dreadwind. They're fine but I already own that mold twice over. They seem to still have their combiner ports, which leaves me scratching my head.

Why? I'm glad they left them in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tantrum

Darkwing and Dreadwind look pretty good individually. I saw one pic of their combined jet mode and wasn't impressed. There were gaps where the wings didn't meet properly. But, it may have been mistransformed.